2014 FSU Football Preview: Week 7 - Notre Dame

By BRAD MILNER | News Herald Writer Twitter: @PCNHBradMilner

Published: Wednesday, July 16, 2014 at 02:00 PM.

Golson passed for 2,405 yards and 12 touchdowns and rushed for six more scores. His return gives Notre Dame six players with starting experience on offense. Five also return on defense for a roster that’s seeing much change in 2014.

Notre Dame’s offense will succeed or fail depending on how Golson takes over the position. He will be counted on to replace the 27 TDs and 3,200 yards put up by the departed Tommy Rees, who was a more traditional passer than dual-threat quarterback.

Golson will have some help in melding with the offense, as two of the team’s top three rushers are back this season. Leading rusher Cam McDaniel and third-best runner Tarean Folston combined for more than 1,200 yards and six TDs last year and will ease the transition. This is especially true given the wide receiving corps is inexperienced with the top two returning pass-catchers hauling in only 25 combined receptions a year ago.

Golson will be without stalwart lineman Zack Martin and his 52 consecutive starts at left and right tackle. Another, Chris Watt, made 37 career starts on the line and also is gone. Two returners have combined for less career starts.

Defensively, Notre Dame lost six players with 25 or more career starts. Only two returners, Kei’Varae Russell and Matthias Farley, have 19 or more starts.

First-glance prediction: Notre Dame is always a wildcard team. The Fighting Irish aren’t what they used to be, but could show flashes of 2012 if it builds momentum in the early schedule that could yield a 4-2 or 5-1 mark. That said, this will be another loss for Notre Dame against a ranked team that should be 6-0 at this point in the season.

Next week: A look at a trip to Louisville, as the Cardinals host the Seminoles on a Thursday night in their first season in the ACC.

It can be debated that Notre Dame was one of the best programs in the 1980s. It also can be debated that Florida State ruled much of the 1990s. And further debate can be made about how both teams are on different paths today.

FSU ascended back to the top of the nation with a 14-0 season in 2013. Notre Dame had a respectable 9-4 campaign with three losses to ranked opponents. The season ended with a Pinstripe Bowl win over Rutgers, but it was a far cry from the 2012 BCS Championship appearance.

That season, which ended with a loss to Alabama and controversy surrounding Manti Te’o and his brush with Catfishing, was one of the bright spots for the program since Lou Holtz departed in 1996 with 100 wins at the school. There have been four fulltime coaches since, including current leader Brian Kelly, and one of them won more than 37 games in at least four seasons.

Kelly tops the list at those 37 victories, as he leads Notre Dame into a new “era.” The Fighting Irish entered into an agreement to play five Atlantic Coast Conference schools per season (four this year due to previous game contracts) as part of officially joining the league in other sports. It somewhat changes the complexion of the schedule for the Independent program and presented this marquee matchup in the first of a three-season rotation against each ACC opponent.

Notre Dame returns to Tallahassee for the first time since 2002, a 34-24 Irish win. This year’s meeting is the seventh game for both teams, which will provide an opportunity for Everett Golson to be in prime shape.

The returning quarterback has only played in one of the past three seasons. He redshirted in 2011, started 11 games and had a decent campaign in 2012 and missed last year for academic reasons. It was reported he cheated on a test and was suspended until mid-December and he wasn’t allowed to travel to the bowl game two weeks later.

Golson passed for 2,405 yards and 12 touchdowns and rushed for six more scores. His return gives Notre Dame six players with starting experience on offense. Five also return on defense for a roster that’s seeing much change in 2014.

Notre Dame’s offense will succeed or fail depending on how Golson takes over the position. He will be counted on to replace the 27 TDs and 3,200 yards put up by the departed Tommy Rees, who was a more traditional passer than dual-threat quarterback.

Golson will have some help in melding with the offense, as two of the team’s top three rushers are back this season. Leading rusher Cam McDaniel and third-best runner Tarean Folston combined for more than 1,200 yards and six TDs last year and will ease the transition. This is especially true given the wide receiving corps is inexperienced with the top two returning pass-catchers hauling in only 25 combined receptions a year ago.

Golson will be without stalwart lineman Zack Martin and his 52 consecutive starts at left and right tackle. Another, Chris Watt, made 37 career starts on the line and also is gone. Two returners have combined for less career starts.

Defensively, Notre Dame lost six players with 25 or more career starts. Only two returners, Kei’Varae Russell and Matthias Farley, have 19 or more starts.

First-glance prediction: Notre Dame is always a wildcard team. The Fighting Irish aren’t what they used to be, but could show flashes of 2012 if it builds momentum in the early schedule that could yield a 4-2 or 5-1 mark. That said, this will be another loss for Notre Dame against a ranked team that should be 6-0 at this point in the season.

Next week: A look at a trip to Louisville, as the Cardinals host the Seminoles on a Thursday night in their first season in the ACC.

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